Aeroplane



Wl F. OSBOHNE.

AEROPLANE.

WITNESSES A 7TORNEYS my LA! W. F. OSBRNE.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION rlLEp SEPT. 20, 1919.

Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4,

ATTHNEYS WITNESSES w QI man LLl'Lh HCHUNHU l IUO W. F. OSBORNE.

A AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.2o, Isls.

Pawnta Feb. 15,1921.

INVENTOR 6 SHEETS-SHEET 5- A TTORNE V8 WIT/VESSES .IQ @HN W. F. OSBORNE.

AEROPLANE. APPLxcATloN ILED sEPT.2o.1919.

Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5- UNITED STATES WALTER FREMONT OSBORNE, OF WAGON MOUND, NEW MEXICO.

AERO PLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

Application led September 20, 1919. Serial No. 325,164.

To all whom t may cof/wem.'

Be it known that I, VALTER FREMONT OsoRNE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of IVagon Mound, in the county of Mora and State of New Mexico, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates generally to aeroplanes and more particularly to an aeroplane wing structure and control, my primary object being the provision of a foldable wing structure which will permitof housing an aeroplane in minimum storage space and in a space much less than it is at present possible to do so.

A further object is the provision of a folding wing structure by means of which the wings may be rigidly held in normal outstanding position and at the same time Capable of being readily folded against the fuselage and longitudinally therealong, so that the machine in disuse may be housed in approximately one-third of the space it would occupy with the wings in outstanding position.

A still further object is the provision of an arrangement by which the wings may be adjusted to and rigidly supported in various positions of angularity between their normal right angular extension with respect to their fuselage and a position longitudinally along or parallel with the fuselage.

A still further object is the provision of a machine of the above type having connections whereby the wings may be easily and readily manipulated from the fuselage and thus under the immediate control of the operator of the machine, and Working connections for so controlling the wings which may be positioned and manipulated without interfering with the normal control of the other operating parts of the machine in any way.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown the preferred embodiment of my invention and the best mode devised uV to the present time for carrying into e ect the above objects, which with the advantages. arising from, will be better understood from the further description.-

Referring to these drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation, the fuselage being partly broken away, and in section,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, with the wings in normal outstanding position,

Fig. 3 is a similar view with the wings folded longitudinally along yand parallel with the fuselage,

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of the parts 1n the position shown in Fig, 2,

Fig. 5 is a similar View withr the parts in the position shown in Fig. 3,

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section through the fuselage taken substantially on line 6--6 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 7 is a detail section taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the tail portion of the fuselage,

Fig. 9 is a side view of a portion of one of the lever connections to be hereinafter described, and

Fig. 10 is a vertical cross section through the fuselage taken substantially on line 10-10 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to these figures and particularly to Fig, 1, I have shown an aeroplane including a fuselage generally indicated at 15, which may have the usual tail structure shown in Fig. 8, including horizontal and vertical air directional rudders 11 and 12, stabilizer 13, and tail skid 14. a conventional wheeled chassis 15a with its wheels 16 being shown to support the for ward portion of the fuselage when at rest upon the ground.

The machine as shown is of a bi-plane type, the two wings 17 and 18, each with upper and lower planes, ext-ending from relatively opposite sides of the fuselage 15, the upper planes of which are divided above the axis of the fuselage as particularly seen in Fig. 2, so that they are independent of one another. The planes of the two wings 17 and 18 are supported in their spaced relation as usual by means of vertical struts, of which the inner struts adjacent to the fuselage 15 are in forward and rear pairs 19 and 20 and the rear pairs 0f inner struts 20 as particularly seen in Figs. 3 and 10 are hinged at vertically spaced points as at 21 to the outer ends of hinge-supporting cross bars 22 extending transversely above and below the fuselage 15 and rigidly connected to the latter so that the wings 17 and 18, each as a whole, may be swung forwardly and rearwardly between the normal right angular outstanding positions shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 and the fully folded positions shown in Figs. 3 and 5 where the wings extend rearwardly and longitudinally along the fuselage 15 approximately parallel to its lengthwise axis.

In the forward outstanding positions of the wings their forward inner struts engage the outer ends of cross pieces 23 projecting transversely above and below the fuselage 15 and rigidly secured to the latter, these cross pieces forming bracing stops for the wings when they are locked in their normal right angular positions. Somewhat similar stops are formed by the cross pieces 24 extending transversely above and below the fuselage 15 as seen in Figs. l and 4, which receive thereagainst certain of the intermediate struts 25 of the wings when the latter are folded rearwardly along the fuselage to the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

For the purpose of shifting the wings and locking the same in various degrees of angularity with respect to the fuselage between the normal and folded positions above described, the fuselage has forward and rear bearing members 26 and 27 secured to its lower surface and through which a lengthwise movable shaft 28 is mounted. To this shaft at an intermediate point as at 29 are connected the inner rear ends of a pair of levers 30, the forward outer ends of which are pivotally connected to the inner forward portions of the wings 17 and 18, preferably at the inner ends of lengthwise braces 31 which as seen in Fig. 4 are secured longitudinally along the lower surfaces of the lower planes of the two wings, so as to brace these portions which in the present construction and unlike the planes now in use, are free of actual connection to the fuselage.

These levers 30 extend from the upper portion of the shaft 28 slightly above the plane of the lower wing surfaces and from a point forwardly with respect to the pivoted point 29, shaft 28 has pivotally connected to its lower surface the inner ends of a pair of levers 32, the outer ends of which are joined to the rear ends of cross pieces 33 secured to the lower surface of the wings, the last mentioned connection being adjustable by virtue of extension rods 34 directly pivoted to the cross bars 33 and telescoping into lengthwise bores in the outer ends of levers 32 with springs 35 coiled there around so as to allow for a slight equalizing play and also for the purpose of cushioning the extreme rearward movement of the wings to the fully folded positions shown in Fig. 5 at which time the cross pieces or stops 24 of the fuselage are engaged by the wings.

The shaft 28 is moved lengthwise by virtue of a lever 36 pivotally mounted at 37 in the fuselage as seen in Fig. 1 near its upper end and similarly connected at 38 at its lower end to the shaft, this lever being intermediately and pivotally engaged by the rear end of a connecting rod 39 inclining forwardly and upwardly in the fuselage and pivotally connected at its forward end to the lowel end of a lever 40 having a latch mechanism 41 in engagement with a stationary notched quadrant 42.

Thus by pulling the upper end of the lever 40 rearwardly, the shaft 28 will shift forwardly and this forward movement of the shaft serves to fold the wings rearwardly by virtue of the thrust of levers 30. Similarly when the lever 40 is moved forwardly, shaft 28 will be shifted rearwardly and the wings drawn forwardly to their outstanding positions through the pull of levers 30, and the thrust of levers 32.

Being engaged as it is with a stationary notched quadrant and within ready reach of the pilot or operator, it is obvious that lever 40 may be readily manipulated and locked in various positions of adjustment, and it is obvious from an inspection of the controlling connections between these levers and the winds that, when the lever is locked, the wings also will be locked. From this it may be seen it is a simple matter to secure the wings both in their normal outstanding positions and their rear folded positions, as well as in various positions of angularity with respect to the fuselage and the first mentioned positions.

The invention thus has the advantage of permitting of ready increase, to a material extent, of speed of movement of the machine along the air by simply adjusting the wings rearwardly on their hinges from the outstanding positions to the longitudinally alined positions with respect to the fuselage in which latter position it is obvious resistance will be decreased to a minimum and thus permit of a maximum speed materially beyond that of which the machine would be capable if the wings were rigid and outstanding at all times.

It is furthermore obvious that my invention promotes a further and decided advantage in permitting the wings to be folded rearwardly along the fuselage in disuse and thus necessitates but small storage space as compared to the space required for a machine with rigid outstanding wings.

It is of course to be understood that while I have shown my improvements in connection with an aeroplane of the bi-plane type, it is just as readily applicable to monoplanes, tri-planes and various other multiplanes of the heavier-than-air types of aerial machines and it is further to be understood that while I have shown a particular controlling mechanism, the major component parts of which are located and movable beneath the fuselage so as present least possible interference with the normal operation of the machine, other controlling means may be adopted and utilized of a different character than the ones outlined, should it be found desirable or become necessary to do this.

The machine provided by my invention is thus very apparently capable of fully carrying out the objects first above stated and of obtaining many advantages both in use and disuse in the fulfilment of these objects, including those advantages which Ihave specifically mentioned as well as such others as may be demonstrated by its practical use.

I claim l. An aeroplane comprising a fuselage, wings normally outstanding upon opposite sides of the fuselage and yieldable with re- 'spect thereto, to positions`= longitudinally along the fuselage and means for controlling the movement of the wings from the fuselage as described, said last named means including a lengthwise movable controlling shaft mounted below the fuselage and levers extending from the said shaft and having connection with the wings as described.

2. An aeroplane including a fuselage having two supporting members, wings normally outstanding from the fuselage and hingedly connected to said wing supporting members, a shaft movable in the direction of its length and mounted beneath the fuselage, lever connections between the said shaft and the wings, and a controlling lever within the fuselage having connection with the said shaft for actuating and controlling the latter.

l/VALTER FREMONT OSBORNE. 

